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Sew Long Summer, Hello Baby!

I'm BACK! Special thanks to @Mahlica Designs for bringing back the Sew Long Summer Tour! As anyone that has been following my bl...

I'm BACK! Special thanks to @Mahlica Designs for bringing back the Sew Long Summer Tour!

As anyone that has been following my blog and shop knows, I had a baby on July 31st. I had big plans of what my post partum was going to look like. 2 weeks in bed and then ease back into things. HAHAHA. No one gets to plan out their life quite like that, right?!

So 3 weeks rest came and past and still I wasn't quite ready to get back into the swing of things full time. Who knew that having my 4th baby when I was 36 was going to kick my butt so hard! So while I had sewing plans to fill the rest of August, summer slipped right through my fingers.

Thankfully, I planned ahead for this tour. I spent a lot of time leading up to baby being born crafting and crafting and crafting. The closer I got to my due date, the more patterns I bought, hoping to keep my mind occupied and not anxiously waiting for my little one to arrive. Thankfully I crafted the time away, because baby wasn't born until 41 weeks 3 days. Talk about the torture of waiting!

One of my favorite baby sews has to be the Peekaboo Pattern Shop Tiny Toes Soft Soled Shoes. My older girls all lived in little moccasin style shoes until about 3 years old. They were perfect for keeping socks on (why do babies always lose their socks?!) and allow for plenty of toe and foot flexing and movement to encourage proper muscle development. So when I found out I was pregnant, I knew I wanted to make cute little shoes.

There are a LOT of baby shoe patterns out there. They all of course have the basic moccasin shape. Which is what I of course needed. Now, if I was having a little girl, I might have chosen a different designer that had a ton of add on packs with cutesie hacks. But I think I would have regretted paying for all those little hacks. The truth is, once you have the basic shape, all you need is a little pinterest inspiration and you can add any hacks you might want! I of course am happy to provide a little inspiration. 😉

Ok, but back to the shoes I actually made. I picked the PAB Shoe pattern because it was the cheapest at just $5. There is a free pattern out there, but it doesn't have instructions. I didn't feel confident in my ability to figure out shoes on my own. So $5 was more than fair.

The PAB Shoe pattern is drafted for use with real leather. While I may one day take the time to source real leather, for now, I just wanted to make cutesie shoes that I could coordinate with baby's outfit. The cheapest way to acquire a lot of small fabrics is of course fat quarters. The catch is though that you then have to make sure that all seams are finished in some way. So, I fully lined my little shoes and serged the only seam that was otherwise exposed (the sole to the upper).

Of course as baby grows, I can invest in nonslip soles and keep him looking stylish while keeping his shoes functional. Or finally take the time to source some real leather fabric for soles. We'll see how that works out!

Welcome to the Sew Long Summer blog tour. We're going to have a fun one this year.

A nice group of sewing bloggers are going to share with you how we say "Sew Long Summer" and we'll be asking you to join in with a Social Sew too (read on for details and prizes)
Sew Long Summer is all about getting those transitional wardrobe pieces ready; finishing up all those things we meant to make this summer; and well, basically whatever Sew Long Summer means to you.

Share what you've been making to say "Sew Long Summer" to be entered into our random drawing.

All other participants will be entered to win a pattern of choice from DG Patterns.

To enter, please tag your sewing project with #SewLongSewcial18 on Instagram or facebook. You can also leave a link in the comments on the mahlicadesigns intro post. Please limit your entries to items you've sewn between Sept 10th and Sept 28th 2018. Winners will be notified and announced shortly thereafter.

Hi, I'm Ti and I'm so happy you're here. I'm a self taught seamstress that loves to focus on good fit, well drafted patterns and of course, FABRIC! As a self proclaimed fabric-aholic, it only made sense to open a fabric store, thus, Simply by Ti was born.
Here on my blog, you'll mainly find work that I've done for myself and my family. I am always looking to expand my sewing abilities and spend a lot of time learning new fitting and sewing techniques. I aim to provide objective, honest, creative content that will keep you actively engaged and wanting to read more.

About Me

A blog to showcase my finished projects, thoughts on specific patterns, advice on fitting garments and style. On this blog, you may encounter affiliate links. These links help to continue to fund my sewing habit. If you enjoy what you read, PLEASE use my affiliate links to help me keep stocked in fabric so I can provide valuable, sewing content.